September 13, 2024
Some people plan their endeavors as early as possible. Then there are people like me. I usually don’t plan too far in advance, but rather when necessary. Most of the time, this approach works well for me.
Sofia, however, is different. This becomes evident, for example, when we take a train together. She prefers to arrive ten minutes early to be prepared for any eventualities. For me, that feels like wasted time. If I find myself at the platform ten minutes before departure, I would rather do some shopping or use the time in another way.
All the bike bags, the action camera, a power bank, and two out of four sports t-shirts only arrived on Thursday, two days before departure. We attached the bags to the bike for the first time shortly before midnight, the night before our departure. And it worked.
I had known for a while which saddle I wanted. However, when I decided to buy it about a week before departure, it was sold out and wouldn’t be available until mid-October. That was disappointing. I quickly grabbed my phone to check if it was still available on second-hand online marketplaces. Sure enough, I found a nearly new saddle listed in Bern for a price lower than retail. The next day, I picked it up. Sometimes, planning requires a bit of luck.
For Sofia, as an early planner, this was a nightmare. Yet she participated and actively helped me pack and organize in the days before our departure. She deserves great thanks for that! As often happens, two different types can complement each other quite well in the end.
Route planning is a different matter for me. I leave as little to chance as possible. I wanted to avoid finding out later that a highlight was near my route and I missed it. Again, there are two extreme types and, of course, shades in between: There are long-distance cyclists who ride more or less without a plan. I couldn’t do that. Over a year before the trip, I spent hours, usually in bed at night, researching possible routes, planning, discarding, and exploring various options. It’s clear that, in a literal sense, a "rolling" plan is also necessary. Flexibility is essential. Weather, physical condition, roads - there are so many influencing factors. At home, I hung up a map of Africa and marked all the places of interest with pins. When we put the map up, I realized how vast the continent of Africa is! On world maps, it is often distorted because it lies at the equator. The map of Eastern Europe next to it, drawn to the same scale, appeared small by comparison.
The previous owner of my bike (it’s a secondhand bike that has already traveled from Patagonia to Colombia in South America) was the opposite of me in terms of route planning. I admired him for that, and he admired me for my planning. How different we are as people, even when we engage in similar activities.
